Cirque Du Soleil

Sorry, no pictures of Cirque Du Soleil, you're not allowed to take any. But this is me on the Metro on my way home. The Metro is similar to the trains but smaller & faster. Montreal has a very good transport system. I can get from one side of the city to the other in about 45 minutes. And when you get a ticket it covers Metro & bus.

So back to Cirque - it was brilliant as usual & I was 2 rows from the front! I've never been that close before - it was awesome!! And they sang my favourite song "Let me Fall." The show was a collection of their music put to different themes but they changed it to fit with an African drum beat! Cool! Anyway I had fun. It was at the Bell Centre (Bell is the equivalent of Telstra) and the Bell Centre is the equivalent of the Entertainment Centre.

Planes trains & automobiles

This is Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal) which is a lot like the Rocks. It's really pretty, especially at night. If you can see a close up of the cars they all have this coating of dust which looks like they've been driving to Alice Springs. Its mainly due to salt from the road that's put on to stop the snow from accumulating & turning the roads into an ice rink. They mostly have the same types of cars. . .except Holdens of course, but they seem to have different models. They still have my favourite Rav 4 though which is good. I'll have to get a car soon so I can go exploring & I dont have another freezing incident going to the supermarket.

This is Central Station. There is a Metro Station, and a long distance train station & of course an underground shopping centre (part of the underground network in the city) Sorry for the crappy photo but you can see my spirit visitors are still with me in the form of the white orb on the right.

And the last photo is taken from my loungeroom (Living room) window. Yes that's a plane in the sky in the background. Did I mention I'm close to the airport?

Yes I have a kitchen!

This is for all of you who didn't believe I had a kitchen. Yes I could probably exist without one seeing how I spend so little time in kitchens but they're handy little things. . . .you know to house the chocolate and tea bags!

Apartment update

So here's the almost completed version of my apartment. Its still missing a few things like more pictures on the wall & more plants, and a rug under the dining table, but they're on my to do list.

The white thing on the lounge (sorry sofa for all the Canadians reading this) is my granny rug. Its a fleecy throw rug that I curl up in when its cold watching telly.

And on the TV is actualy an Australian show called Water Rats. . . .an outdated cop show with really bad acting! Of all the Aussie shows they could have had on cable and they choose this one??? Still it was nice to hear the familiar accent again, and with Colin Friels you REALLY hear the Aussie accent. hahaha

In the corner beside the lounge (sofa) is my new plant that Sabine, Steve & Melanie bought me, when we had our pizza & DVD night. They are so sweet and I love the plant, I've called him Harry Pot! :-)

Quebecois!

Quebecois is like saying something is Quebec-esque; it has a quality about it that makes it unique to Quebec. Many things can be Quebecois, the local food such as Poutine, a particular French phrase that only Quebecers say, things like that. Quebecers would like to be separate from Canada. THey'd like to be their own country so there's a really strong patriotic feeling for the Province of Quebec, and I find it quite infectious. I wouldnt want to be anywhere else in Canada but here.

The photos are of my walk to work. The first one is the Shopping centre across the road from work called Place Vertu. I often go for a walk to the shops at lunch to get out of the office. The other photo is of a scene I pass every day on my way to work. Its so pretty here, I could stare at it for ages. . . .if it wasnt so damn cold!!! I actually froze my fingers by taking my glove off for one minute while I took these photos!!! It was -15 but there was a wind that makes it colder.

And the last photo is of me with my Social Insurance Number card. I am now legal!!! Its a bit like your tax file number - everyone has one and you cant really get anything without it (so I found out when I tried getting a credit card)

Dimanche (Sunday)

Yes today is Sunday, and what was I doing? . . .giving a talk to a hundred people of course! Don was giving his Open Book Management speech & had asked me to give real examples of what it was like working for an OBM run company. He also asked for a 10 minute description on CPI (Continuous Process of Improvement.) Well my OBM talk got cut & my 10 minutes turned into 3 but that was ok, I still got to talk.

I really like being on stage. I miss it. Even if it's for training. I like the adrenaline rush & I like reaching people; seeing the lightbulb go on over their head. It made me want to continue my journey toward what my real goal is - reaching people on a much grander scale as a film director. I miss directing. At least I still get a few minutes of what I love by doing what I did today.

The other photos are of my apartment. One is taken from directly outside and shows the street I live in. The 6th building on the far side of the street is work. Yes I can see work from my building. Fortunately I cant see it from my apartment, but I can see the shopping centre across the road from work. . .a much better view.

Now I did tell you that 99% of people in Quebec are bilingual - but what I forgot to mention was that many of them are actually tri-lingual. In the Corporate Office for instance all of them speak French & English but Anita also speaks Italian, Sabine also speaks Arabic, Bruno also speaks Spanish & Susanne also speaks German. I've actually heard a coversation with Anita where she's used all 3 languages in the same converstaion. Almost in the same sentence. That's really cool!!! It inspires me to learn French as quickly as possible, but even then I'll only be a lowly bi-linguist!! hahaha! Unless I can call Australian a different language - and in some cases it is! I mean they dont even have "fortnights" over here - it's Bi-weekly!!

Quebec City

So this is myt hotel room in Quebec City. It was very modern & nice. Quebec is about 250kms from Montreal & I was driven there by Don Zeleznik (CEO) and Anita. We had a great time in the car. Very different than riding around with friends. You dont have a conversation with Don without something profound coming out of it. I got a great insight to a great man.

I'm not sure if the people around me realise what a gift to them this person is. I know Anita does. Don's a business genius and has a really big heart. He's like Kerry Packer only much more genuine & caring. So my 2 and a half hour trip was more of a learning session. You soak it up by Osmosis just by being around the guy.

Unfortunately it was dark when we drove to Quebec City & the next day was spent in a hotel conference room. But the little I did see of it was absolutely beautiful. And the hotel had a beautiful indoor garden that spanned the whole hotel. It felt like home because it was the first greenery I'd seen since I got here other than the occasional spruce tree. I spent my lunch break staring at the trees. Sorry for no photo of it but I didnt have my camera.

Quebec is much more French than Montreal, some people dont speak English at all there. I didnt visit the centre because we were offsite but I'm looking forward to going back in a couple of weeks to implement the Improvement Process, despite the language barrier. I'm going to have to go & get French classes soon.

After shots of apartment

So this is my new pad! I REALLY like it. This weekend was the first opportunity to really sit down & think about what I've done. I suddenly realised that I've just moved country!! No shock to any of you I'm sure. I started to feel a little homesick. Its funny the things you miss. I miss my nephew's chats in the morning when he asks me questions about life. He usually asks questions like "Auntie, what's the difference between electricity & current" usually at about 5 in the morning!! I got my baseball glove out that I played with him just before I left. I felt a sudden jolt of homesickness.

Other things I miss are the food. I cant order my roast dinner from across the road anymore. Food is different here. My body isnt used to it & its really hard to find "normal" stuff. I miss the sun's warmth. Its not the same here, and I miss sitting at my cafe at the beach on a Sunday morning with my brother & sister-in-law. I miss normal supermarkets where you know where everything you need is. All really simple things. It lets you know that sometimes life is just about the simple things & it makes you appreciate them so much more.

Like here I really appreciate the snow. I get excited every time it snows - so much that even my workmates joke about me making a fuss when its snows. It's the most pure thing in the world and it coats everything in beautiful white. It doesnt matter that it gets brown & muddy later. Other things I like are the houses. Architecture is picturesque. You still get your brick boxes, but mostly its whole suburbs of beautiful houses like in a story book. Also people here are much more genuine. I know I've mentioned that before, but I've had such amazing gifts of kindness that it sometimes overwhelms me. Simple things like my friends being thoughtful to buy the tea I like for me.

So its a balance. In order to move forward in life you have to sacrifice some things but then your life opens up to new equally wonderful things. What would my life be if I'd never met these people?

Rule number 1. . . .

Never go out for a walk when it's sunny! Sun means freezing your butt off, snow means warm! Figure that out. I went for a little walk to my supermarket about half an hour away. I was so cold by the time I got there my legs were stinging & I had to hold my noze as it was freezing. Not pleasant. It was only -15 but there was a really cold wind. When it snow it's actually much warmer.

So these are photos from my new bedroom window, me putting together my tv cabinet & the last one off my balcony has mysterious white blobs. No - it wasnt snowing. this is actually spirit. Yes the ghostly kind. Many photos have been taken with these white orb like things, and it well known in the spiritual world that this is spirit dropping in to say Hi! I did feel a presence in the apartment but its a happy one. Not spooky at all. I did a cleansing the night before these orbs appeared. I couldnt see them with the naked eye. They are definitely not snow as they are perfectly round and it wasnt snowing at the time (for all you skeptics.)

MY NEW APARTMENT!!! YAY!!!

This is my BEFORE shot of the apartment. I know it doesnt look like much but it's really nice & after I put my furniture into it - it will look lovely!!!

Some other funny things about Montreal is that they all looked at me blankly when I said we should have our meetings fortnightly! They had no idea what a fortnight was. They say Bi-Weekly.

The local favourite food dish is Putine which is a whole plate of fries, with special melted cheese & gravy!!! I wonder what the heart attack rate in Montreal is due to high cholesterol!!!

I cant wait to officially move into my apartment tomorrow!!! I had to wait for the delivery of the bed!! It helps!!

Hansel & Gretel's house

This is my friend Melanie's house during the day. That's Melanie out the front. That's the St Laurent (Saint Lawrence) River that surrounds Montreal (yes it's an island) and Melanie's house overlooks it. Many houses are like this - its like being in a doll's village. Its beautiful.

Melanie & my other friend Sabine have gone above & beyond to help me with moving into my new apartment. They've driven me around to buy furniture, they've come & picked up my stuff and driven it to the apartment & carried it upstairs, Melanie even got one of her friends to pick up my lounge from the furniture store and take it to my apartment. I dont know what I would have done without the help of wonderful kind Canadian's like this. I'm overwhelmed at their willingness to help as if going out of their way is an every day occurrence.

Dinner with new friends

Tonight I had dinner with two friends from work Sabine & Melanie. Michele who is on maternity leave from work also joined us. We had Fondue at Melanie's (common over here, it didnt go out of style in the 70's) and we played pool after dinner.

Melanie has one beautiful son, and a beautiful
house on the St Laurent River. It's like Hansel & Gretel's house only made of stone, not lollies. When I go there in daylight I'll take a picture so you can see. Its straight out of a picture book.

It was a really nice evening. Canadians are very genuine "what you see is what you get kinda people." They are truly heart warming, and Melanie & Sabine have gone out of their way to help me like its an every day occurence. But more on that on Monday when you find out about my excellent apartment that I move into on Monday.

Work & interesting People

This is Sabine who sits next to me & who I went shopping with last week. She's always helping me with my French, knowing my way around town & most important, my shopping! She's Lebanese and grew up with war surrounding her. She's a happy Canadian Lebanese now. People's lives are so interesting. When you go somewhere new you observe things around you more closely. My boss Anita had an amazing story about how she started at Nordia. She actually applied for a much lower ranked job but Don (the CEO) had other ideas. That's Jean-Francois in the picture behind Sabine. Most people in the office have French sounding names like Renaud, Pierre, Benoit, Leandro & Joelle. Even the way they say Roe with their French Canadian accents sounds very French.

This is my desk at work with my brand new laptop. After all my travelling it wont be new for long. I start travelling next week. I'm going to Cremazie, & Quebec City.

New Year's Day

Today I went to Parc Jean Drapeau on Ile de St Helene. It's just a short Metro ride away. The big ball thing is the Biosphere which is a Museum of Water. The other photo is the park itself. It was really pretty & I walked around the park until I got cold. You cant really go for a long walk because your body starts to seize up. By the time I got home I could hardly walk up the hill. The cold must do something to your muscles to drain them of energy but it happens all the time when I walk for half an hour or so. Of course it might also have to do with the 5 layers of clothing weighing me down! hahaha. This was a favourite spot. I might go here on a Sunday afternoon then go & warm up at the restaurant in the picture.

New Year's Eve Party

This is Josie's husband JC with their beautiful Border Collie puppy "Jackie."

I went to Josie's house (a work colleague) for New Year's Eve & had a great time. Nice bunch of people. We had dinner, then went up onto the roof for 5 minutes to see the fireworks at midnight. As you can see it was a little cold on the roof (-20).


Keep in mind that anywhere I go they speak mainly French but am able to have conversations in English but not with everyone. Some people dont speak much English.